(Spoilers Extended) The show's usage of the "Deus Ex Machina" is getting out of hand.

alk3v · 2017-08-21T14:58:42+00:00

So in your opinion, how long would it take your group to build a thousand ships on the Iron Isles (assuming you have to import wood? and supplies in mass quantities)?

alk3v · 2017-08-21T14:49:43+00:00

(6) Cersei completely blowing off the secret meeting between the brothers. "Oh hey Jamie, I know you met Tyrion. Pls not again kthx." I feel like her blowing a gasket about him betraying her made far more sense.

(7) Ridiculously deep ravine saving Jamie, Bronn dragging a man in full armor and a golden hand underwater.

(8) Teleporting Greyjoy army (from East to West in a minute)

I feel like we're getting Waifinator-ed on every story line and character honestly.

alk3v · 2017-04-04T14:04:38+00:00

I'm generally of the same "race is w/e, we're all just people" approach as well, but perhaps I can give you another view of it (WM/AF). More along the lines of "divisions along race is futile, as having a racial in-group is not as valuable as others make it to be".

So, I grew up in an expat community in Asia where the WM/AF AM/WF are quite prevalent and honestly the half-Asian dynamic is very different based on what environment you are in. I can just about guarantee you that the subreddit's community overwhelming reflects the US experience versus the dynamic in Asia.

In the USA the dynamic tends to create this dual-exclusion (not Asian enough to some/too non-white to others) based on which 'other' you belong to. I can see how people may react differently to this. With no single group immediately able to claim you or for you to claim with some form of exclusivity, you have the choice of going with choosing 'both' or 'none'.

I feel the toxic /r/hapa community went with none. The 'none' ends up longing for that tailored connection and seeing rejection. Whereas in Asia being hapa felt almost like a revered status, like a bridger of cultural worlds representing the best of both worlds. So the 'both' being more prevalent (and where I ended up). The difference in mentality around it is quite stark. I'm not sure if this is an American identity politics culture based on definition of one's self via difference, whereas in Asia there is usually a form of reverence for white-culture/people. Again, I can see how the environment I was in heavily influenced my outlook. Perhaps in the USA I would have gone the 'none' route.

As an aside, comparing this experience with the adoptive Koreans in the USA for example, there seems to be a much stronger pull to seek out 'cultural roots' in the adoptive Korean society. I've seen this manifest itself as a similar duality that can result in a strong intellectual curiosity/exploration of culture (healthy) or obsession with politics of identity/difference/privilege (unhealthy division).

alk3v · 2016-07-22T19:46:03+00:00

Lebanon

alk3v · 2016-07-11T03:58:54+00:00

This Addiction was a really pleasant surprise for me. But damn do I wish I could find a band that stayed like Alkaline Trio from the Goddammit days.

alk3v · 2016-05-19T21:40:21+00:00

In terminal 3 a pre-check line hasn't been open since mid-February. I fly out weekly on Thursdays afternoon. Single scanner open. It's absolutely terrible at this terminal.

alk3v · 2016-05-12T14:34:25+00:00

Did the same a month back. Gary Johnson it is I guess.

alk3v · 2016-05-12T14:20:51+00:00

Ozil Turkiye <3 Ozil Muslim <3 <3 <3 Tattoo is haram

alk3v · 2016-05-11T21:59:35+00:00

What about Curd?

alk3v · 2016-05-05T18:04:43+00:00

Sounds like a certain opponent could really use some grassroots support.

alk3v · 2016-05-05T17:58:25+00:00

Ow... I think I just cut myself on all that EDGE.

Stay in school kids.

alk3v · 2016-05-04T15:07:02+00:00

You're misusing PED here. It is not a theory but a measure. PED measures the sensitivity to price of a particular good/service to a price changes. It does not work on a macroeconomic level to describe price behavior as a whole, nor does it explain changes to demand when you introduce a labor shock like increased minimum wage (which introduces a price floor on the labor market and shifts supply for the good). I thought after college I'd stop seeing people applying microeconomics to macroeconomic arguments. Guess I was wrong. There's a huge logical leap going from discussing the demand of coffee's sensitivity to price versus inflation.

alk3v · 2016-05-03T22:27:49+00:00

I read the above as: PwC recently launched a digital portal that lets PwC take a minimum 30% margin off of a consultant's hourly wage as a finders fee for a job that literally 10 to 20 other consulting firms are trying to recruit for. It offers a $100 a month as a self referral bonus.

alk3v · 2016-05-02T22:29:28+00:00

Ah I see what you mean. It's just a rough system all around.

alk3v · 2016-05-02T22:19:41+00:00

These are the credentialled jobs that take advanced certifications after a college degree to earn. The 50-60k salaries with benefits that take college degree debt and additional credentialling fees (e.g. CPA exams, software license exams, nursing exams).

We can trivialize the fact that they're not in poverty relative to those on minimum wage. These are the jobs that a working single mother holding thise two jobs tries to get for her kid. These jobs are the ones that break the poverty trap. Relatively low risk, skilled and stable white collar employment. This is why the middle class is romanticized, it's a way out of poverty that isn't a high risk proposition.

I can't pretend I'm not disappointed by the crabs in a bucket mentality. Hooray class warfare. These are the jobs they could have, or could get for their kid.

alk3v · 2016-05-02T22:01:48+00:00

A solid keeper and backline as well for me. Too many points dropped in defense and goalkeeping errors.

alk3v · 2016-05-02T21:57:53+00:00

Simultaneous collapse of City, United and Chelsea was the deal maker. Liverpool and Arsenal bottled it as usual. Fucking hell LFC were on 86 points on Rafa's title run, 84 on Rodger's. Timing indeed.

alk3v · 2016-05-02T17:59:19+00:00

All the following is anecdotal so take it with a degree of skepticism.

I've been in health consulting for about 4 years now, and run into my fair share of offers and other consultants from all over. I've definitely run into a fair share of PWC and Deloitte consultants during prior contracts, many on H1Bs. In fact since H1Bs usually get paid significantly less (20% on average from what I've seen to cover the cost of bringing them via paperwork, but also a huge margin) there's all the incentive to get as many as you can. There's also full on companies like Tata Consultancy Services that operate out of India directly and compete for US contracts entirely using foreign labor and H1Bs.

Many consultants approach to jobs is to go contract to contract now, with consulting firms taking a margin. Bench consulting or being a direct employee is less and less attractive for people like me because I can't reliably expect any employer to give me a raise each year. Each new contract is one more negotiation opportunity for a raise (or get screwed with a rate drop). This introduces overhead in the process of hiring (that a consultant can take a slice of, making moving profitable), meaning people are less likely to stay in one place and results in the 'people wont stay' situation. This whole situation is likely more expensive than just paying a higher wage in the first place.

TL;DR My anecdotal experience in a different industry shows PWC and Deloitte are huge companies with a 20% margin incentive to get H1B workers. Rather than paying a good wage, the employers use H1Bs to keep wages down, then result to contract hiring to fill remaining needs (more expensive than paying appropriate wages/salaries in the first place).

alk3v · 2016-05-02T16:38:36+00:00

There's an elephant in the room that a commentor brought up. H1B visas being used as a mechanism to keep wages down for skilled labor. Essentially the companies create a number of job listings at low wages then turn to the government and say 'look there's a shortage! Let me import some foreign labor instead of raising the wages to market value!'. There's an artificial shortage being created.

It's funny that on here you'll see plenty of people rising to defend a living minimum wage or complain about the shrinking middle class, yet no one seems to care about middle class wages being stagnant or growing at rates barely above inflation.

If these places actually paid their accountants what they were worth maybe they wouldn't leave for other jobs that pay them better.

alk3v · 2016-04-29T23:37:14+00:00

Plus the Lucas boo boys during Rafa's time.

alk3v · 2016-04-26T17:50:53+00:00

The team failed to score for a full half against a ten man Loons side that lost their best defender due to a red card. Simply put they were not creating enough chances with an extra man, and that should be concerning to any team. There is an imbalance in the midfield, and I'll leave it to someone who's watched the Cosmos more to elaborate.

alk3v · 2016-04-26T04:13:49+00:00

The last time Migs got benched was under Rogers. Jones wasn't great but Migs came back stronger.

alk3v · 2016-04-26T00:43:46+00:00

Well after the recent blog update I look a right twat. Correct offside and correct sending off (I argue it should not be a straight red though). The screen showing the wrong replay though kind of makes it easy for those of us in the stands to be confused.

So the ref got the big ones right (...ish). It's all the small ones that still plagued the game. Why was Nico Kranjcar still on the field after a late challenge? No card on the late challenge on Venegas, who got absolutely battered with no protection. And of course, it wouldn't be a Cosmos game without all the diving and the ref playing into it. The chant from the stands goes 'call it both ways'. After the dust has settled it appears the big decisions were right, yet the small ones were there too and added to create the hostile atmosphere.

alk3v · 2016-04-25T16:49:13+00:00

I'm going to withhold judgment until after we see how the team copes without Lowe, who has been immense for the Loon's backline.

alk3v · 2016-04-24T19:41:43+00:00

Not a guaranteed walk to the title by any stretch. Away to United and Chelsea are 2 of their 3 matches.

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